Methods of hemming and seaming fabrics

ABSTRACT

A method of joining two fabric surfaces together which comprises: sewing a synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread to one of the fabric surfaces to be joined, the sewing taking the form of a blind sewing stitch which passes through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric and which interloops with itself or with one or more other threads on the surface of the fabric; bringing the surface of the fabric containing the interlooped thread stitch into contact with the other fabric surface to be joined, whereby the interlooped thread stitch contacts both fabric surfaces; and applying heat and pressure to the fabric surfaces and the interposed, interlooped thread stitch, whereby the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread softens and becomes adhered to both fabric surfaces, joining them together.

United States Patent Baxter et al.

[ 1 Sept. 12, 1972 3,031,349 4/1962 Dritz ..I56/93 Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-Alexander T. Kardos and Robert L. Minier ABSTRACT A method of joining two fabric surfaces together which comprises: sewing a synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread to one of the fabric surfaces to be joined, the sewing taking the form of a blind sewing stitch which passes through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric and which interloops with itself or with one or more other threads on the surface of the fabric; bringing the surface of the fabric containing the interlooped thread stitch into contact with the other fabric surface to be joined, whereby the interlooped thread stitch contacts both fabric surfaces; and applying heat and pressure to the fabric surfaces and the interposed, interlooped thread stitch, whereby the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread softens and becomes adhered to both fabric surfaces, joining them together.

4 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures METHODS OF HEMMING AND SEAMING FABRICS GENERAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present inventive concept relates generally to improved methods of joining two fabric surfaces together, and more specifically relates to methods of hemming and seaming fabrics and especially garments, such as trousers and skirts, and fabricated household articles, such as bedsheets and tablecloths.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the textileand related industries, and more specifically the garment industry, as well as in the home sewing area, the hemming and seaming of garments or of fabricated household articles is a very important consideration.

In making garments, fabricated household articles or the like, it is frequently necessary to foldthe edge of thefabric back on itself and form a hem, or .to join the edges of two or more fabrics together and form a seam.

In the making 7 of I these hems and scams, it is frequently necessary to pin, baste, or sew the work material loosely or with long stitches whereby the work material is temporarily tacked or held until it is finally permanently secured together in a subsequent operation. This is often a time-consuming and tedious task. More recently, electronicsewing, or the use of thermoplastic strip or tape material which can be activated by the application of heat and pressure, have been employed to adhere the separate parts together relatively quickly and-easily. However, such methods have not been completely satisfactory, inasmuch as the electronic methods required rather elaborate, complicated, and expensive machines and equipment, and the use of thermoplastic strips or tapes often required difl'icult manipulation and holding of the fabrics in proper relationship during hemming or seaming, and oftentimes resulted in nus-alignment .of the fabrics being joined, undesirable stiffening of the fabrics, oozing of the thermoplastic materials through the pores of the fabrics, and so forth.

THE INVENTIVE CONCEPT which results in an improvedproduct which is more easily .kept in proper alignment during the joining process, which is not undesirably stiffened, and-which does not have any thermoplastic material oozing through the pores of the fabric.

The invention will be more fully understood from the description whichfollows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which there are illustrated preferred modes of operation, and products embodying the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be considered limited to the methods and constructions disclosed except as determined by the scope of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a portion of a It has now been discovered that these objectionable features and disadvantages may be avoided when joining two fabric surfaces by methods which comprise: sewing a synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread to one of the fabric surfaces to be joined, the sewing taking the form of a blind sewing stitch which passes through only a portion of the full depth 'of the fabric and which inter-. loops with itself or with one or more other threads on the surface of the fabric; bringing the surface of the fabric containing the interlooped thread stitch into contact with the other fabric surface to be joined, whereby the interlooped thread stitch contacts both fabric surfaces; and applying heat and pressure to the fabric surfaces and the interposed, interlooped thread stitch, whereby the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread softens and becomes adhered to both fabric surfaces, joining them together.

The fabric surfaces are thus very quickly and very easily joined together in a relatively simple, inexpensive operation which does not require elaborate, complicated, or expensive machines or equipment, and

thread has been blind-stitched in such a way that the thread passes through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric and interloops with itself on the surface of the fabric;

FIG. 2 is a schematiccross-section view taken on the line22ofFIG.1; I Y

I FIG. 3 is a schematic, fragmentary plan view in magnified scale of the blind stitch used in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the fabric of FIG. 1 wherein a hem has been folded upwardly and back on itself against the body of the fabric itself;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-section view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the fabric of FIG. 4 showing the location of the stitching of a basting thread, if one is desired or required, to hold the folds or layers of the fabric in proper relationship;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross section view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the fabric of FIG. 6, after heat and pressure have been applied to the hem in the vicinity of the interlooped synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-section line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of the fabric of FIG. 8 after the basting thread has been removed; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION view taken on the In the drawings and with particular reference to- THE STITCI-IING THR AD The stitching thread 26 which will ultimately be used to adhere the fabric surfaces together may basically be any filamentary thread which possesses the necessary properties of being capable of activation under heat and pressure to soften and become tacky and adherent to adjacent contacting surfaces and to subsequently harden but remain permanently adhered to the adjacent contacting surfaces upon the removal of the heat and pressure.

Nylon polyamides, and especially nylon 1 l and nylon terpolymers of low crystallinity, polyesters, acrylics, modacrylics, polyolefins, polyvinylchlorides, cellulose acetates and triacetates, etc., are examples of filamentary materials suitable for application by the principles of the present invention. The softening or tacky temperatures of these filamentary materials must be low enough, however, to warrant their safe use and to avoid any possible damage to the materials being adhered together.

. The diameter and denier of suchfusible, filamentary materials'varies widely and is in the range of from about mils to mils and from about 200 denier to about 600 denier. Smaller or larger denier materials may be used for special purposes. Monofilamentary, or multifilamentary materials which are more flexible, are preferred.

r TI-IE STITCH The particular stitch which is employed to sew the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread 26 to the fabric relates to the essence of the invention.

The stitch must be a blind sewing stitch and must pass through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric 20. Under no circumstances should it pass through the full depth of the fabric to appear on the other side thereof. Also, the stitch must be of the particular type which interloops with itself, or with one or more other threads, on the same side of the fabric from which it is sewn.

An example of the particular blind stitch used in the application of the present inventive concept is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 3.

This particular stitch is formed with one needle three or more threads, in various combinations of needle threads and bobbin threads, may be used provided they do not penetrate completely through the material and are interlooped or interlaced either with themselves or with one or more other threads on the top surface of the fabric material. These other threads, if they are used, may be synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic threads as described hereinbefore, or they may be of the non-thermoplastic type, such as cotton or rayon.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a narrow portion of the bottom edge 22 of any desired or required width is turned upwardly back on itself whereby a new bottom edge 30 is formed. At the moment, the thread 26 is not soft or tacky and there is no adherence between the fold 32 and the body of the fabric 20. In FIG. 5, and, as will be shown hereinafter in FIG. 7, the fold 32 and the bottom of the fabric are shown separated and not in thread and interloops with itself on the top surface of the fabric. It passes through the top surface of the fabric without penetrating through the full depth of the fabric. This particular stitch is described more fully in Federal Standard No. 751a (Jan. 25, 1965) Stitches, Seams, and Stitchings which is available through the General Services Administration, acting as an agent for the Superintendent of Documents. This particular stitch is identified as Stitch Type 103 Other particular stitches of application to the principles of the present inventive concept which are also illustrated and described in Federal Standard No. 751a are Stitch Types 106, 313 and 3 14. All of these stitches are blind stitches which pass through only a portion of the fabric and which interloop with themselves or with one or more other threads on the surface of the fabric.

Stitch Type 106 is also a single needle thread stitch and interloops with itself. Stitch Types 313 and 314, however, are formed with two threads: one needle thread and one bobbin thread. In these types, the needle thread passes partially through the fabric and interlaces with the bobbin thread on the top surface of the fabric. Other types of stitches employing one, two,

contact. This is not precisely accurate but the separation is shown to emphasize the fact that the fold 32 and the bottom of the fabric 20 are not adhered to each other at this time. v a

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a-temporary basting thread 34 is sewn to hold the fabric 32 and the body of the fabric 20 in proper non-slipping relationship. This basting thread 34 is not absolutely necessary for the procedure and may be dispensed with when the next step in the procedure immediately follows the preceding step and there is no necessity to hold the fold 32 and the body of the fabric 20 together for any lengthy period of time.

Heat and pressure are then applied in the vicinity of the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread 26 whereby it becomes soft and tacky and it adheringly joins the fold 32 to the bottom of the fabric 20, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The amount of heat and pressure used varies widely and depends primarily upon the nature, properties and characteristics of the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread. Generally, however, temperature ranges of from about 230 F. C.) to about 330 F. (166 C.) are found generally applicable. The lower ranges are, of course, preferred inasmuch as there is less danger of damage to the fabric at such lower temperature ranges.

The temporary basting thread 34 is then removed and the hemming operation is completed, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. There is no undesirable stiffening of the fabric in the vicinity of the hem and there is no visible evidence of any oozing of the thermoplastic material through the pores of the fabric. There is also no visible evidence of the thermoplastic thread inasmuch as it was blind stitched to the inside surface of the folded hem and was also interlooped on that inside surface.

The invention will be further described by reference to the following Examples wherein there are disclosed preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, it is to be appreciated that such Examples are illustrative but not lirnitative of the broader aspects of the inventive concept.

EXAMPLE I The procedures set forth in the drawings are followed with additional detailsas follows: the fabric which is hemmed is a wool knit fabric. The synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread (FIGS. .1-2) is a nylon polyamide monofilament (actually a nylon polyamide terpolymer of low crystallinity) having a diameter of 8 mils, a denier of 350, and a softening point between 237 F. (114 C.) and 245 F. (118 C.). Stitch Type 103 (FIG. 3) is used and the row of stitches is parallel to the edge of the fabric and closely adjacent thereto. The interlooping and interlacing of the thread is very extensive and it requires about 5 inches of fusible thread to traverse 1 inch of fabric. The fold (FIGS. 4-5) is about 1 inch wide. The temporary basting thread (FIGS. 6-7) is cotton and the stitch is an ordinary chain stitch.

Heat at a temperature of about 245 F. and moderate pressure are used to soften the synthetic, fusible, thermoplastic thread which adheres to and bonds the fold and the bottom of the fabric together. The temporary basting thread is removed (FIGS. 10-11) and the finished hem is found satisfactory.

The hem of the fabric is not hardened or stiffened to any degree and there is no visible evidence of any oozing of the thermoplastic material through the surface of the fabric. The bond is strong and commercially acceptable. I

EXAMPLE II The procedures of Example I are followed substantially as set forth therein with the exception that the fabric being hemmed is a woven cotton fabric.

The results are generally comparable to the results of Example I and the hem is commercially acceptable.

EXAMPLE Ill The procedures of Example I are followed substantially as set forth therein with the exception that the procedures are used to seam two rayon nonwoven fabrics together.

The results are generally comparable to the results of Example I and the seam is commercially acceptable.

EXAlVfPLE IV EXAMPLE V The procedures of Example I are followed substantially as set fort therein except that the fusible thread is a nylon polyamide monofilarnent having a diameter of 10 mils and a denier of 455.

The resultsare generally comparable to the results of Example I and the hem is commercially satisfactory.

EXAMPLE VI The procedures of Example I are followed substantially as set forth therein with the exception that the stitch type which is used is No. 314. This particular type of stitch is formed with two threads: one needle thread and one bobbin thread. The needle thread is passed into the body of the fabric without penetrating its full depth and is interlaced with the bobbin thread on the surface of the material.

The results are general y comparable to the results of Example I and the hem is commercially satisfactory.

Although the present invention has been described in particularity in the presented examples by reference to specific materials and constructions, it is to be appreciated that such is merely illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limitative thereof, except as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of joining two fabric surfaces together which comprises:

sewing a fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread to one of the fabric surfaces to be joined, said sewing taking the form of a blind sewing stitch which passes through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric and which interloops with itself or with one or more other threads on the surface of said fabric;

bringing the surface of said fabric containing said interlooped thread structure into contact with the other fabric surface to be joined, whereby said interlooped thread structure contacts both fabric surfaces;

and applying heat and pressure to said fabric surfaces and the interposed, interlooped thread structure, whereby the fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread softens and becomes adhered to both fabric surfaces, joining them together.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the blind sewing stitch comprises a single needle thread which interloops with itself on the surface of the fabric.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the blind sewing stitch comprises a needle thread and a bobbin thread which interlace with each other on the surface of the fabric.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread is a polyamide. 

1. A method of joining two fabric surfaces together which comprises: sewing a fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread to one of the fabric surfaces to be joined, said sewing taking the form of a blind sewing stitch which passes through only a portion of the full depth of the fabric and which interloops with itself or with one or more other threads on the surface of said fabric; bringing the surface of said fabric containing said interlooped thread structure into contact with the other fabric surface to be joined, whereby said interlooped thread structure contacts both fabric surfaces; and applying heat and pressure to said fabric surfaces and the interposed, interlooped thread structure, whereby the fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread softens and becomes adhered to both fabric surfaces, joining them together.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the blind sewing stitch comprises a single needle thread which interloops with itself on the surface of the fabric.
 3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the blind sewing stitch comprises a needle thread and a bobbin thread which interlace with each other on the surface of the fabric.
 4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the fusible, synthetic, thermoplastic thread is a polyamide. 